Graduate Certificate in Global Health Alumni

Magaela C. Bethune is completing a Ph.D. in the Community Research and Action program in the Department of Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. Her research looks at the role of adolescent media use and engagement in the sexual socialization, behaviors, and health of youth and young adults at intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality. While at Vanderbilt, she has coordinated or collaborated on several research projects, including the Pathways to African American Success preventive intervention program with Vanderbilt's Center for Research on Rural Families and Communities, which promotes parent-child communication to reduce sexual risk engagement in rural African American youth. She also worked as the study coordinator in the Center for Health Services Research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, evaluating the usability of a web-delivered, medication adherence promotion intervention for type-2 diabetes patients. Dr. Bethune will join the faculty at Loyola Marymount University as an assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies, beginning in fall 2020.

Hannah S. Carlile is pursuing an M.Ed. in International Education Policy and Management, but loves everything interdisciplinary because she appreciates problem solving from systems thinking. As such,  she is completing graduate certificates in both Global Health and Caribbean and Latin American Studies. Hannah is a Foreign Language and Areas Studies (FLAS) Fellow, which has given her deeper insight into Caribbean cultures and languages, especially Haitian Creole. She was also a Fellow with Columbia University's Center for Public Research and Leadership, serving as a student education research consultant for a semester on Bill and Melinda Gates new Networks for School Improvement initiative.

Rian Djita is a Fulbright student from Indonesia (2018-2020) pursuing his master's degree at Peabody College of Education and Human Development (Vanderbilt University) by majoring in International Education Policy and Management. Outside of education policy, Rian’s interests include program evaluation and improving access to health care, particularly in difficult contexts, leading him to pursue the Graduate Certificate in Global Health Global Health Certificate through the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). During his time at Vanderbilt, he worked as a Research Assistant at Peabody on the Policies for Action research project with Professor Carolyn Heinrich that aims to address the health and education needs of vulnerable children in Tennessee. In spring 2020, he received a research fellowship from Columbia University’s Center for Public Research and Leadership to research schools with students from low-income households. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. upon graduation in International Education Policy / Comparative Education.

Larry Ferguson received his BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2018 with a minor in Business Management. During his time at Vanderbilt, he engaged with a course through the Economics Department which involved policy analysis work in Chile with a concentration on multidimensional poverty and access to healthcare through their program "Chile Solidario". He intends to enroll in a Health Policy Ph.D. immediately following graduation, with the intent to focus on mental health policy. His primary goal is to work as a health policy researcher, stationed in D.C.

Shelby Gamble, MSN, RN, completed a Graduate Certificate in Global Health while completing a MSN (Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner - Intensivist Focus) at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She also received a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley in Nutritional Science and Dietetics. While at Vanderbilt, Shelby had the opportunity to develop a quality improvement project to address burnout, trauma-informed care, and self-care among emergency department nurses in Guyana. After graduation, she plans to work in the critical care setting as an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, and eventually complete a DNP degree. She is interested in pursuing opportunities to teach other nurses abroad, and to produce global health research to promote quality improvement in low resource settings.

Ashley Hill is completing her M.Ed. in International Education Policy and Management at Peabody. While at Vanderbilt, she has engaged in global health through the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health's Student Advisory Committee (SAC). Through her work with SAC, she was able to work on the Global Health Case Competition committee and co-chair the 2020 Global Health Symposium. She also found interesting ways to merge her interest in global health with her international education coursework - one of her favorite projects to date is a blog that encompasses articles on international education, global health, and economic and human development within the continent of Africa. Ashley completed a summer practicum in Ghana with an organization that provides tuition-free education and improved health services to rural communities. In addition, she aided in program implementation and improving the financial stability of an organization in Guatemala through Project Pyramid. She hopes to work within the continent of Africa, with a focus on monitoring and evaluation.

Frances C. Knight completed the certificate in global health while working on her graduate degree in biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt. While her Ph.D. research focused on the development and characterization of nanoparticle-based pulmonary vaccines for protecting against respiratory infections, her work on the global health certificate provided a means to connect her lab research to potential applications in public health. The certificate's courses allowed her to gain an understanding of the practical aspects of implementing new technologies and interventions in low-resource settings, and led her to become interested in global health policy development. 

Didi Odinkemelu says that her involvement with the Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health (VIGH) has been nothing short of exciting. She spent a summer in Liberia, working with Liberian nurse anesthetists to better understand the challenges in training anesthesiology providers in the country. She reports that her mentors at VIGH continue to go above and beyond to support her interests. Didi says it has been truly inspiring to learn from and alongside people who walk the walk of true global health partnership, and are equally committed to ensuring better health for humans around the world. She is currently applying into anesthesiology residency, and global health will be a central focus of her future work.

Sharo Costa received a Masters of Education in International Education Policy and Management at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development. In the summer of 2018, she interned with the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, where she worked on development and implementation of a mentorship program for junior and senior faculty at the University of Zambia and briefly assisted with a faculty development project at the A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine in Liberia. In the long-term, she is interested in exploring risk and protective factors related to equity and access to education and health (particularly, mental health) among children in traditionally marginalized communities worldwide.

Sam Edwards fulfilled the requirements for a Master's of Arts in Medicine, Health, & Society. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Sam is a 2018 graduate of the Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Medicine, Health, & Society. During his undergraduate career, Sam worked in Global Health regards through service trips to Jamaica and Nicaragua as well as academically, via a comparative healthcare systems course, in France. As a graduate student, his global health knowledge increased through academic study in global health topics such as HIV/AIDS, socio-cultural, economic, and political considerations of global health inequities, as well as leadership and management in global health companies. Sam will be joining the Peace Corps as a Rural Family Health Educator in Belize after graduation to apply his new knowledge for the betterment of the needy across the world.

Jessica Howard received her M.Ed. in the International Education Policy & Management program at Peabody. Before coming to Vanderbilt, she worked for eight years in Central Asia, initially as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan, and later working in research and program development with non-profit and corporate social investment initiatives. At Peabody, she worked as assistant coordinator for the Humphrey Fellowship Program for visiting education professionals from around the world, and also worked to support first-year students through the Peer Career Mentor program. Jessica and her team were first-place winners of the Vanderbilt Global Health Case Competition in 2018. Post-graduation, Jessica hopes to continue working with non-formal education programs in low-resource communities.

Johan Zulkarnain Kasim completed the Graduate Program in Development Economics. Through one of his global health courses, he had the opportunity to take part in the 2019 International Global Health Case Competition in Emory University, Atlanta, representing Vanderbilt University. He worked on several projects related to cigarettes tax policy and child nutrition, while he was in the program. Upon completion of his degree, he went back to his office as Fiscal Analyst in the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia. He hopes he can formulate a better fiscal policy to improve health quality in Indonesia.

James Leathers received his Doctor of Medicine degree at Vanderbilt University. His early work with underserved communities, in combination with his Latino heritage and Spanish language proficiency, led him to global health. Over the last four years, James has spent nearly 14 months in Latin America, in both clinical and research settings. Between his third and fourth years of medical school, he completed a Doris Duke International Clinical Research Fellowship, where he worked in the public hospital system in Cordoba, Argentina. James has also spent time in Nicaragua and Chile, and plans to continue his work abroad as he prepares for a career in emergency medicine.

Mingke Li received her masters in the Graduate Program in Economic Development. She graduated from Babson College in 2012 and worked in the mobile health industry for a few years before coming to Vanderbilt for her graduate studies. During her time at Vanderbilt, she has completed the Global Health certificate and participated in the Global Health Case Competition. As a member of the VIGH SAC, she was also actively involved in organizing the Global Health Symposium and other events.  After graduation, she will go back to her home country and continue to develop her career in the healthcare industry.

Jordan Moody, MA, completed the Certificate in Global Health while earning her MA in the Social Foundations of Health through the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society. Her interests include the intersections between social justice, faith communities, and public and global health interventions. Upon completion of her degree, she hopes to use her knowledge gained at Vanderbilt to pursue a career that is dedicated to improving population-based health.

Elizabeth Schaubert graduated from the PNP-PC program with a global health certificate. She completed several independent studies and projects through this global health program that she says have equipped her for her dream job of caring for immigrant, refugee and generally underserved children, which abound even within her own community of the greater Washington, D.C. area. She plans to continue working or volunteering in a global capacity throughout her career and she is grateful for the training and resources she received through this certificate program.

Shailja C. Shah, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During her gastroenterology fellowship at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, Shailja developed a deep interest in understanding etiologies for the marked racial/ethnic disparity characterizing gastric cancer epidemiology, especially in the US. Although the US is overall considered a low incidence country, racial/ethnic minorities and some immigrant groups are at a disproportionately high risk, with rates mirroring those in endemic countries globally. As such, these groups might benefit from targeted gastric cancer prevention and early detection efforts, such as endoscopic screening and surveillance, which do not routinely occur in the US. Shailja's work in global health is focused on defining the epidemiology and burden of gastric cancer among racial/ethnic minorities and immigrant groups, along with adjunct risk determinants, in order to appropriately define the scope of the problem and direct resource allocation/research efforts. Her goal is to construct the evidence profiles needed to inform the implementation of a targeted gastric cancer prevention and early detection program in the US for high risk groups. 

Hope Wiggs received her Master of Education degree in International Policy and Management at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development. During her time at Vanderbilt, she was able to incorporate global health into her coursework and her practicum experience. She completed her practicum at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH.) This allowed her to experience the intersection of education and global health in a real-world setting. While at VIGH she had the opportunity to work with Vanderbilt faculty and faculty from around the world working to improve health outcomes. After graduation, Hope plans to work in the field of research studying how education and health interact and impact communities

Elsa Young received her master's degree in the Social Foundations of Health program from the Vanderbilt Center for Medicine, Health, and Society. She is primarily interested in the social determinants of malnutrition and the intersection between agriculture and nutrition. As part of her master's degree, Elsa completed a practicum with Mani+, a social enterprise in Guatemala which combats malnutrition by pairing the provision of a nutrient-fortified food product with education and agricultural support services. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career that increases access to healthcare and good nutrition for marginalized populations.

Eftitan (Efi) Akam, M.D., is a Sudanese immigrant who spent a large portion of her childhood living in the Middle East. She attended Harvard College where she studied Neurobiology and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. At Vanderbilt, Efi trained in various clinical settings including Siloam Family Health Clinic, the Shade Tree Clinic, Jordan University Hospital and Al-Bashir Government Hospital in Amman, Jordan, and in diverse locations within the Palestinian Occupied Territories and Israel. She served on the board of the Global Health Organization and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honors Society. Upon graduating, Efi plans to pursue a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is interested in addressing health disparities and social determinants of health, both domestically and globally. To that end, she plans to pursue a career in primary care for underserved populations with an emphasis on global health, advocacy, and social justice. 

Grace Callahan, M.Ed., studied International Education Policy and Management. She became interested in global health when studying international development and is interested in the intersection between health and education. In pursuing this certificate, she had many opportunities to engage with global health problems through coursework and practical opportunities including working with a diabetes clinic in Guatemala through Project Pyramid and participating in the VIGH Global Health Case Competition. She will be working as an education consultant for a Peabody Special Education research project after graduation.

Dia Chakraborty, M.Ed., studied International Education Policy and Management. Post her experience at the Hult Case Competition and the Turner Family Center treks, she took a keen interest in the global health network. Her interactions with global health partners like PSI, FHI 360, and Chemonics during her summer internship in Washington, D.C.  deepened her interest in this field. She plans to return to India soon and work with Menstrual Hygiene management in government.

Miguel Cuj, M.A., completed his degree in Latina American Studies with a focus on health issues. His master's thesis, Maya Memories of the Internal Armed Conflict Health and Nutrition Issues in a Small K'iche Maya Community, uncovers the normalization of institutional violence that limits access to food and healthcare among certain groups in Guatemala. This lack of food access increases inequalities between classes, genders, ethnicities, and other social groups that lead to the marginalization of vulnerable people. This research project used qualitative methods to conduct in-depth interviews with the older (>50 years old) rural Mayan population in Guatemala about effects of the armed conflict on their current health and nutrition status.

Ashley Ehlert, M.A., received her undergraduate degree from Clemson University and subsequently pursued her masters in Interdisciplinary Health Studies at Vanderbilt. While at Vanderbilt, she focused on mental health in military veterans while simultaneously expanding her educational foundation in Global Health. Her interests include mental health, gender equality, and providing care in low-resource settings. Ashley plans to pursue a career in health care and continue working to improve care in resource-limited settings.

Maryam Gul studied Economic Development and it was during a research course that she realized the importance of Global Health in the context of International Development. The cusp of Global Health and Education is something that specifically interests her and has been her research focus during graduate school. She hopes to work with an international organization focused on poverty alleviation through health and educational interventions.

Benjamin Li’s interest in global health evolved into a passionate mission while at Vanderbilt. He worked on four major projects during his five years at Vanderbilt in the M.D./M.B.A. program. One project delivered eye-glasses to the Nicaragua's only ophthalmology clinic in the country; another, with Primeros Pasos Clinic, delivered health screenings, education, and treatment to underserved communities outside Xela, Guatemala; his third project, in collaboration with the Turner Family Center (TFC) at Vanderbilt’s business school, helped the Mayan Health Alliance develop a business model for a diabetes clinic in Tecpán, Guatemala (which would be the first diabetes clinic in Guatemala); and finally, he started a new global health radiation oncology initiative to improve access to cancer treatments in Guatemala City in collaboration with the INCAN National Center. He was invited to present this global radiation oncology work at the Health Connect South Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2018, was named a TFC Fellow. He attributes the incredible mentorship and support he received at Vanderbilt to be a springboard to act on his initiatives and connect with others around the world. In Ben’s words, “The skills and lessons learned here will undoubtedly make me a more capable physician and leader in societal-scale medicine as I enter radiation oncology residency after graduation, where I hope to continue my mission.”

Adoma Manful, M.P.H., was a David Satcher Public Health Scholar in the Epidemiology track of the Vanderbilt M.P.H. Program. Her research interests include using data for decision-making and assessing socio-contextual determinants of health to improve health outcomes. During her time as a student, she completed her practicum in Accra studying the economic impact of non-communicable diseases in Ghana. Adoma's thesis research explored ways to improve refugee healthcare access in Nashville by assessing factors associated with tuberculosis infection treatment initiation. Originally from Ghana, Adoma received her bachelor of arts in biology from Amherst College and spent several years working in research and data management at the Massachusetts General Hospital Biostatistics Center before joining Vanderbilt University. She hopes to work in Ghana and other African countries after earning her M.P.H.

Beatriz Satizabal, M.A., completed the Medicine, Health and Society masters program. During her time at Vanderbilt, she had the honor and pleasure of learning from an interdisciplinary approach to global health issues, current events, and evolution. After graduation, she will enter the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program at the University of Tennessee, her alma mater, where she will conduct research as a research assistant.

Shuyang Wang, M.Ed., completed her degree in Child Studies. As the first student in her program to pursue the Graduate Certificate in Global Health, she is thankful that, “she received enormous support from VIGH and my program director Vicki Harris.” Shuyang continues, “It has been a wonderful journey, with very exciting and enlightening courses, and various on- and off-campus activities. This certificate program enables me to work very confidently in the global context, and contribute meaningfully to the lives of many children and families.”

Shunyu Yao, M.Ed., studied International Education Policy and Management and his interests include economics and various issues in public policy. He is interested in global health because it is a major focus of most policy interventions in developing countries. He believes the best solution to most issues in developing economies is individual liberty and a free market. After graduation, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in economics and eventually become a scholar in a free-market think tank.

Rafal Sebastian Sobota, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., will be completing his Residency training at Northwestern University in the field of Neurology, with a long-term goal of pursuing a research career in the genetics of neurological infectious disease. Rafal was born and raised in Krakow, Poland, and he moved to the United States at the age of 14. After graduating from the University of Chicago, he matriculated at the Vanderbilt University Medical Scientist Training Program in 2008. He was the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar at the Malaria Research and Training Center in Bamako, Mali. He received a Ph.D. in Human Genetics, working under the tutelage of professor Scott Williams. His thesis project studied genetic predisposition to tuberculosis in Tanzania and Uganda, evaluating the hypothesis that HIV-positive patients living in areas endemic for Mycobacterium tuberculosis who do not develop clinical tuberculosis are resistant, and that this protection has a genetic component. This work has yielded several peer reviewed journal articles, and it was recognized with Reviewers' Choice award at the American Society of Human Genetics conference and a plenary talk at the VECD conference. Rafal also received a Master's of Science degree in Biostatistics Methods in Global Health from Vanderbilt. Throughout his time at Vanderbilt, he also carried out volunteer work in Senegal, Kenya, and Nicaragua.

Khaliungoo Ganbat is a masters student in development economics on a Fulbright Scholarship. When it comes to development, she believes that health becomes one of the major issues, but one that people think of less. She was interested to learn more about global health, which led her to take courses related to global health and to compete in the Global Health Case Competition (won third place). Upon completion of her degree, she will go back to her home country-Mongolia, to continue to work with mining impacted communities on poverty and development issues. Health and environment are the main issues for communities near mining project. She hopes to use her knowledge she gained at Vanderbilt to serve these communities.

Muhammad Zain Chauhan M.A., will be graduating in the Social Foundations of Health program from the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society (MHS). Before joining MHS, Zain received his B.A. in MHS with a minor in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt. As an undergraduate, Zain received the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education for his research on the affects of waste water discharge on rural creeks. Zain's thesis research is exploring the institutional and economic factors that contribute to the adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems in rural and urban dental clinics. He has applied this research in a global health setting by examining the factors that contribute to health IT adoption in resource-constrained settings, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Zain plans to go onto to medical school and work on the development of health IT systems catered to specialty practices in low resource settings.

Jennifer Lynn Neczypor, CNM, FNP, RN, MSN, is originally from California, graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing with a dual specialty in certified nurse-midwifery and family practice nursing. While at Vanderbilt, she served as the chairperson of the 2015-2016 Global Health Case Competition case-writing committee, and also sat on the VIGH Student Advisory Council. As a recipient of the Nichols Humanitarian Fund Grant, she returned to her Peace Corps country of Vanuatu to provide nursing, family planning, and malaria prevention services in the aftermath of a devastating cyclone, and as a participant in Project Pyramid, she worked with the women of the Sibimbe sewing cooperative in rural Ecuador. Throughout her nurse-midwifery clinical rotations, she had the opportunity to explore the many implications of global health inequities for marginalized populations in the United States, including undocumented Spanish-speaking women in Nashville and Chicago, adolescent mothers, refugee women, and Saudi Arabian college students in rural Idaho. As a recipient of both the Frist Global Health Leaders Program grant and the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Jeanne Raisler International Award for Midwifery, she will be traveling to Kathmandu, Nepal, after graduation, where she will be partnering with the maternal-fetal health organization One Heart World-wide to train traditional birth attendants and Nepali student nurse-midwives. Jennifer's long-term career goals include working as a nurse-midwife for Doctors Without Borders, developing effective, midwife-led solutions to the problem of malaria in pregnancy, and establishing a birth center in Vanuatu that integrates traditional birth customs, woman-centered care, and evidence-based practice.

Christine M. O'Brien completed a certificate of global health while completing her Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in 2017. This certificate program was a wonderful experience and training opportunity, during which she conducted a practicum project in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras. The project aims to improve early detection of gastric cancer using optical methods that can be incorporated into routine endoscopic gastric screening methods. She plans to begin a testing approach in Honduras this spring. After graduation, she plans to work as a post-doctoral researcher to gain new engineering and biophotonics skills. One day she hopes to become a principal investigator and focus on the development of point of care optical technologies for use in global health.

Eryn Block, M.P.P., will pursue a Ph.D. in Public Health focusing on Health Policy and Management at UCLA starting in Fall 2016. She intends to focus on bridging the gap between health and education policy, promoting health and mental health programs within schools, and methods for health and education practitioner collaboration, both domestically and internationally. As an undergraduate student at the University of Oregon, Eryn was an active member of Students for Global Health and interned at the Red Cross in Burkina Faso. While at Vanderbilt, Eryn participated in the VIGH Global Health Case Competition.

Lin Chang, M.Ed., graduated from Peabody College of Education and Human Development's International Education Policy and Management program. She credits one of her foundational international education courses as being pivotal in sparking her interest in global health, and she is particularly interested the relationship between education and health, and how together the two considerations can be collectively leveraged for successful implementation of child and youth-targeted programs. She interned with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education in the Republic of the Maldives for her summer practicum, working on child and maternal health programming and research/data analysis on the health status of Grade 1 students in Maldivian schools, which culminated in a report presented to the Minister of Education. Lin is pursuing opportunities involving social entrepreneurship and education/global health-related programmatic work, and intends to return to pursue a Ph.D. in the future. 

Kelly Diaz, M.D., is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and received her undergraduate degree in both Spanish & Portuguese and Medicine, Health & Society from Vanderbilt University in 2011. She participated in various global health organizations and projects in Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Brazil as an undergraduate and continued to explore her passion for global health while in medical school at Vanderbilt, completing several research projects in Mozambique related to the effects of a livestock lending intervention on quality of life and health outcomes as well as a study analyzing the determinants of health care access for women and children in Mozambique. Kelly is a proud wife and mother and plans to continue her global health engagement as she pursues residency training in family medicine. Her long-term career goals include shaping her practice as a medical home for immigrants and refugees in the US and continuing to engage in global health work abroad.

Magdalena Dorvil-Joanem, M.D., was awarded the Overall Fellowship in 2012 in support of her international work. During the summer of 2012, she worked at Visitation Clinic in Petite Riviere de Nippes, Haiti where she conducted a descriptive survey on disease burden in the adult population. As she served in this rural province, Magdalena had some of her first experiences working in women's health, which inspired her to pursue a career in this specialty. Magdalena's involvement in global health continued into her last year at Vanderbilt as she served on the Global Health Committee as a health fair chair. She plans to remain active in global health throughout her career as a physician.

Bethany Fjeldheim, M.S.N., is a certified nurse midwife and family nurse practitioner. She earned her undergraduate degree at Loyola University Chicago, where she studied biology and medical ethics. While at Vanderbilt, Bethany served as co-director for Shade Tree Clinic's Early Pregnancy Program providing women with free prenatal care and social services. Her global health interests include maternal and infant health, global midwifery education, and violence reduction. After graduation, Bethany hopes to provide care to underserved and at-risk populations.

Dafina Krasniqi, M.A., came to Vanderbilt from Kosovo to study Development Economics. She credits her global health courses at Vanderbilt in helping her learn to apply a quantitative data analysis approach to the most salient health and developmental problems in developing countries. As part of her studies, Dafina analyzed the outcomes of a book program designed to educate mothers on child development and childhood injury prevention, to promote reading and better health practices, and to improve mother-child interactions. Dafina is passionate about global health issues and looks forward to professionally engaging with healthcare programs and organizations that address the needs of vulnerable populations.

Jieun Lee, M.Ed., is a graduate of the International Education Policy and Management program at Peabody College of Education and Human Development. At Vanderbilt, she worked with Lwala Community Alliance as a monitoring and evaluation intern, evaluating the public health and education programs in Lwala, Kenya. She also worked with World Relief, a nonprofit serving the refugee community in greater Nashville, developing education and cultural orientation programs for newly arrived refugee children.

Melanie McWade, Ph.D., completed a certificate of global health while completing her Ph.D. in global health in 2016. As part of her studies, she spent a summer in Georgetown, Guyana where she completed a project mapping road traffic collision hot spots using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). During that time, she worked closely with the Georgetown Police Force to collect collision data. She conducted several courses for the police force and public health students at the University of Guyana on how to use GIS to inform public health policy. After graduation, Melanie will be taking a job at a medical device firm that partners with universities and companies to develop innovative therapies.

Ajay Sundaram, M.S., M.Ed., began his association with VIGH in Spring 2015. He was on the winning team at the Vanderbilt Global Health Case Competition in 2015 and represented Vanderbilt at the inter-university Global Health Case Competition hosted by Emory University that same year. He also holds a M.S. in Biology from the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Pune, India and recently earned a M.Ed. in International Education Policy and Management from Vanderbilt. He sees himself working at the intersection of education and health policy.

Karen Trochez, M.L.A.S., is a Bilingual Research Analyst III in the Institute for Medicine and Public Health at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she works on a cluster, randomized control trial that examines the utility of literacy, numeracy, and culturally sensitive educational materials for uninsured patients with Type 2 Diabetes. A Honduras native with 13 years of public health services in Miami and Nashville, serving under-represented populations has been a personal passion that she has followed for almost a decade. She has worked with Latino populations at the Make-a-Wish Foundation, serving as a mediator to bring hope to children going through life threatening illness. While studying at Vanderbilt, Karen placed 3rd in the 2016 Vanderbilt Global Health Case Competition. Karen’s future career plans include continuing to research the Latino population and health disparities in Middle Tennessee, and becoming a Family Nurse practitioner.

Rui Wang, M.Ed., graduated from Peabody College's International Education Policy and Management program. She participated in two global health case competitions during her program and was also involved work with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE) as a health screening program volunteer with the refugee and immigrant population in Nashville. Her interest in public health is focused on air pollution related health issues and non-communicable diseases in China. After graduation, Rui will pursue a M.P.H. in Global Health and later hopes to work with an organization that focuses on programming in health and education.

Jonathan Andereck, joint M.D. and M.B.A., designed and executed a research study on prevalence of and risk factors for parasitic infections in adults living in Lwala, Kenya for his Global Health certificate practicum. This summer, Jonathan will enter residency to train in Emergency Medicine.

Jordan Cohen, MD, completed his medical education at Vanderbilt from 2010 to 2015. During his time at Vanderbilt, Jordan pursued his interest in global health through two projects abroad. As a first year, Jordan spent 3 months in coastal Kenya working with an empowerment program for single mothers. After completing his third year, Jordan took a year to complete a research project working with a combined HIV monitoring study and empowerment program for young women living in the Umlazi township of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Jordan is pursuing a career in Emergency Medicine and hopes to continue his work abroad through resident education using simulation and ultrasound.

Morgan De Kleine, M.S.N., worked with the Centering Pregnancy program at La Clinica Nueva Vida in Nashville for her Global Health certificate practicum, where she explored the benefits and challenges of implementing group prenatal care within a Spanish-speaking immigrant population. Morgan remains committed to caring for underserved populations, and her long-term career goal is to help train midwives internationally.

Kathleen Doherty, MD served on Global Health Committee as chair for the Student Seminar Series and was the distribution coordinator for REMEDY (Redistributing Medical Equipment to the Developing world) during her first two years of medical school. She was also awarded an Overall Fellowship to spend the summer after her first year in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, studying the effects of a traditional medicine on cortisol secretion. This early experience cemented Kathleen’s desire to take a full year to pursue global health research after her third year of medical school. She returned to South Africa to study the effects of vaginal drying products on risk for HIV-acquisition in high-risk young women. Kathleen is pursuing residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and hopes to make global health an integral part of her training and future career.

Sarah Elizabeth Eckhardt, MD, is preparing to graduate from Vanderbilt School of Medicine and enter a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Sarah has wanted to go into Ob-Gyn since her public health work in Latin America throughout college, where she noted significant gender inequality between men and women. Her Emphasis Research Project during her first two years of medical school focused on knowledge, attitude, and practice of family planning methods in rural Kenya. She then returned to Kenya for a global health immersion where she again focused largely on women's health. Sarah will continue to do global health as a physician and looks forward to a career of working to empower women through health and education in developing nations.

Gretchen Edwards, MD, plans to pursue a career in general surgery with an emphasis on working with immigrant populations domestically. While at Vanderbilt, Gretchen performed her Emphasis research looking at the impact of immigration upon the development of resilience among Latina immigrant mothers. Her certificate practicum had her at Primeros Pasos Clinic in Xela, Guatemala during her fourth year.

Diedre Ehule (Nchelem) holds a MSPH at Meharry Medical College, and will complete her Global Health certificate practicum in Ogbomoso, Nigeria on Common Health Conditions in the Hospitalized Elderly. Diedre’s long-term goal is to become a clinician who works with the elderly population across the globe to improve their system of health.

Inyoung Kang holds a M.Ed. in IEPM. She worked as an ESL to Go’s special programs intern for her Global Health certificate practicum, and developed a health survey and nutrition education program for Burmese women and their families to attend ESL to Go mobile classes. In her future, she may work in the research and evaluation department at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and as a Korean service liaison related to health administration and communication at the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute.

Renée Martin-Willett will complete her MA at the Center for Medicine, Health and Society at Vanderbilt in the Spring of 2015. Her global health practicum was a pilot study leveraging technology to quantify psychosocial wellbeing among resettled refugees in Middle Tennessee. She was named the 2014-15 Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Research Scholar in recognition of this research, as well as received the VIGH Anne Potter Wilson award. This year, Renée was invited to speak on transparency in healthcare by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Washington D.C., presented a paper on refugee mental health and methodology to the Society for Applied Anthropology, and presented a poster at the North American Refugee Health Conference. The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship Competition also recognized her for honorable mention. Her future plans include a recent appointment as Research Coordinator at the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, and eventual application for PhD in clinical psychology.

Irène Mathieu, M.D., researched intimate partner violence and childhood obesity prevention in Nashville’s Latino community and through medical rotations in North Carolina with the Lumbee indigenous community and Guatemala with indigenous and Ladino populations for her Global Health certificate practicum. Irène is interested in community-engaged research, plans to have a residency in pediatrics, and pursue academic primacy care.

Arfraja McLeod holds a Masters of Theological Studies, and completed his Global Health certificate practicum at Siloam Family Health Center where he studied refugee and immigrant health as a medical case manager. To satisfy his ever-increasing passion to serve marginalized and underserved populations, Arfraja sees himself attending medical school with goals of practicing medicine that is religiously and theologically informed in order to combat global health issues.

Ashley Scott holds a M.A. in Economic Development. She was involved in health related projects in Cambodia through the Owen Graduate School of Management’s Project Pyramid for her Global Health certificate practicum. Ashley hopes to work with an organization that promotes quality accessible global healthcare, continuing her passion for innovation and technology.

Priya Sivasubramaniam, M.D., has done neonatal intensive care research in Amman, Jordan, as well as having researched breast, cervical, and gastric cancer in Beijing, China during her medical school career and her Global Health certificate practicum. Priya plans on conducting a residency in pediatrics in 2015, and pursuing a subsequent fellowship in either pediatric critical care or emergency medicine.

Jessica Jade Van Meter, DNP, completed a Doctorate in Nursing practice at Vanderbilt School of Nursing in addition to the graduate certificate in global health. Her practicum took place in Georgetown, Guyana and focused on implementation of a disaster preparedness plan in the Accident and Emergency Department at Georgetown Public Hospital. She received the VUSN Alumni Award for Service and Leadership to the Community as well as the Sigma Theta Tau International Professional Development Award.  Jessica is currently a flight nurse with Vanderbilt LifeFlight and plans to continue to participate in medical and disaster aid mission trips following graduation.

Wenting Wang holds a M.Ed. in International Education Policy and Management, and completed her Global Health certificate practicum through work done at VIGH this past summer on development of global health coursework and programs at Vanderbilt. Wenting plans to focus on preventive interventions for maternal and children health in low resources settings, especially for the left-behind children (LBC) in rural China.

Katie Barcy is a M.Ed. candidate in International Education Policy and Management. During her first year at Vanderbilt, Katie was involved in health-related projects in Guatemala through the Owen Graduate School of Management's Project Pyramid and the Global Health Case Competition. During the summer of 2013, Katie assisted Vanderbilt with its CDC-funded grant in Guyana to develop the country's first Master of Public Health program at the University of Guyana. In her second year, Katie was a member of the VIGH Student Advisory Council, assisting in the logistics, fundraising, and case writing for the Global Health Case Competition. After graduation, Katie hopes to work with an organization that designs programming in health and education to empower marginalized populations.

Katrina Byrd is currently a fourth year medical student at Meharry Medical College.  Her career interests include completing residency in Internal Medicine/Pediatrics and a fellowship in Med/Peds Infectious Disease.   She grew up in Detroit, Michigan but graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana with a BS in Microbiology and The George Washington University with a MS in Public Health Microbiology and Emerging Infectious Diseases.  She has always wanted to incorporate practicing medicine internationally into her career.  That is why she’s pleased to be going to Clínica Esperanza, a clinic in Roatán, Honduras, as a medical student volunteer.  Infant malnutrition is a significant problem on the island; therefore, she will be preparing a teaching session to educate mothers on the importance of breastfeeding.   In the future, she sees herself practicing academic medicine and spending a couple of months per year doing medical mission work globally.

Leigh Cummins was involved with the VIGH Student Advisory Council while at Vanderbilt. She was a participant in the 2013 Global Health Case Competition and served as a case writer for the 2014 competition. She completed her practicum at VIGH during the summer of 2013. Additionally, Leigh traveled to Guatemala and Haiti to work with international organizations focusing on projects of childhood malnutrition and water/sanitation issues as part of Project Pyramid. In the future, Leigh plans to work within the field of health education. She hopes to find a job stateside that will allow her many opportunities to travel abroad!

Julie Dunlap gained interest in the disparities manifested in infant and maternal morbidity and mortality across the globe as an MSPH student at Meharry Medical College and as a candidate to receive a Certificate in Global Health from Vanderbilt. She is most interested in how implementing socially competent community-based health programs focused on health education, promotion and empowerment through social engagement can lead to improved community health outcomes. This summer, she has completed her practicum with Vanderbilt affiliated Friends in Global Health, LLC looking at prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program located across Abuja, Kwara and Niger states in Nigeria. The program gave her experience working in global community-based health service delivery that utilizes community members as advocates, mentors and educators to bring awareness to PMTCT in Nigeria, which carries the largest burden of pregnant women infected with HIV across the globe. Following her practicum, she plans on returning to the United States and continuing to work in maternal and child health research for a year before returning to finish her academic career. She currently plans on pursuing a PhD in Sociology focused on global health and social capital theories. It is her long-term goal to implement global community-based health facilities aiming to impact MCH and community health through the promotion of community advocacy, engagement and social connectedness.

Melissa Hazlitt will enter an Emergency Medicine Residency in the summer of 2014 following graduation from Meharry Medical College. In addition to a BA in International Relations from SUNY New Paltz, she earned a Master's degree in Diplomacy from Norwich University. Working as a VECD Fogarty Global Health Fellow, Melissa travelled to Beijing where she worked with the Chinese CDC National Center for HIV/AIDS and STDs to examine the impact of ART treatment initiation on outcomes in Henan province's plasma donor population. She intends to follow residency with a career in emergency medical service development and expansion in rural settings.

Lamar Johnson is currently a fourth year medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. His career interests include completing residency in Internal   Medicine/Pediatrics and possibly a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine. His father was in the air force and he moved around a lot as a child, but he calls San Antonio, TX home. He graduated from Howard University in Washington, DC with a BS in Biology.   He’s always been deeply invested in helping those who need it most, and the field of global health allows him to do this while also feeding his hunger to travel and learn about different cultures. He will be volunteering at a clinic in Roatán, Honduras called Clínica Esperanza. He loves working with children of all ages, so in addition to providing medical care with the clinic, he will also be visiting schools in the area to perform eye exams and do vision screenings. Ultimately, his goal is to have a career that incorporates providing primary care, teaching medical students, and traveling abroad at least once every year to continue to serve underserved populations.

Maria Prom is graduating in May 2014 with an MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Her interest in sustainable global intervention started as an undergraduate at Carleton College when she was accepted for a Service Internship for International Development Fellowship and worked with the Foundation for Sustainable Development at a local NGO in Masaya, Nicaragua. As a medical student her interests developed in global mental health, as well as public health policy and economics research. Her primary focus is on Spanish speaking populations both locally and internationally. She was awarded a Vanderbilt Overall Fellowship in International Medicine to work with a free mental health clinic in rural Ayacucho, Peru for three months. There she investigated potential interventions to prevent patient drop-out from mental health therapy. She was later selected as a Vanderbilt Medical Scholars Fellow and completed a one year research investigation in public health policy and economics in urban and rural Peru. She will be completing residency training in psychiatry, with a focus in global mental health research in the area of mental health systems and services development. She later hopes to complete fellowships in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Global Psychiatry.

Dilyara Yusupova, M.Ed. (pictured far left) is currently a second year Master's student in the International Education Policy and Management Program in the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.  Being born and raised in Uzbekistan, Dilyara received her undergraduate degree from the University of World Languages in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with a bachelor of arts in English philology. She was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship to complete her graduate degree at Vanderbilt University studying about the intersection of health, education, and economic development. As part of her M.Ed. program, Dilyara conducted her internship with the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, where she helped organize the Nursing Leadership in Global Health Symposium that took place in Nashville on February 27th-28th, 2014.